Opened in June, the L’Eldorado hotel is already making beautiful days (and beautiful nights) in this corner of Batignolles, very close to Place Clichy, in Paris. On the fourth floor, room 44 overlooks the vegetation and is close to the tops of the trees. From up there, you can see the striped parasols in the courtyard. Palm trees, banana trees and tropical ferns complete the Parisian flora, made up of two slender trees with deciduous leaves. On the terrace or in the establishment’s winter lounge, you can dine on Isigny oysters, spaghetti with bottarga and flambé Vacherin, for example.
The establishment, which features floral motifs even in the elevator, benefits from all contemporary comfort but cultivates a retro touch: manual keys, rotary switches, round porcelain sockets… Back in the room, before going to bed, we changes dimension. The vast oak bed and the overloaded tapestry evoke a home deep in the woods. A large original painting seems to represent this forest house. We could be very far from the city, in a hunting lodge.
Entering the bathroom, the whiteness shines, enhanced by the gray tones of Carrara marble. Bathing is enjoyed along the window, lying against the Parisian night. The hotel blurs the lines, suggests sensations, arouses experiences. The next day, we notice a famous actor-rapper being interviewed in the garden. However, when you come out to rue des Dames, you would swear that all this never existed. The hotel seems imperceptible from the outside. A dream.
Hotel L’Eldorado, rooms from €330. 18, rue des Dames, Paris 17e.
At 250 meters: confront the images
This former hotel housed a cabaret on the ground floor and a large ballroom in the basement. Since 2010, Le Bal has been a place devoted to contemporary photography at its most cutting-edge. Until February 25, the exhibition “From Her” focuses on the artists… and their mother! Sophie Calle, Hervé Guibert, Christian Boltanski and many others are summoned in a unique scenography.
Le Bal, 6, impasse de la Défense, Paris 18ᵉ. Open Wednesday to Sunday. €8.
At 290 meters: meet the young literary guard
Posted here since 1881, the venerable Wepler has a south-facing terrace from which to observe the life of the boulevards. Inside, on the moleskin benches, you can read the paper newspaper, held in your reading sticks. The ballet of waiters in black and white perpetuates this spirit XXe century. Under the leadership of Marie-Rose Guarnieri, a Montmartre bookseller, the Wepler-Fondation La Poste literary prize organizes a party every year.
You have 45% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.